A Tale of a Journey
by emmerlii
Summary: A Gift from a specia person arrives for Frodo & Sam. No slash. Completed.


**A Tale of a Journey**

A parcel had been sitting on the front step of Bag End for the best part of the day. Frodo had been just sitting around all day when he noticed the parcel. He put down his cup of tea and went to investigate.

He opened the Green Door of Bag End and picked up the parcel. It was rather heavy for its size. Frodo took the parcel inside and called for Sam, who had been trimming the hedges as he usually did, to meet him in the kitchen. Sam came bustling inside muttering about a thorn that had protruded the skin on his finger when he stopped as his eyes saw the parcel. 'What is it, Mr. Frodo?' Sam asked his brown eyes wide.

'I'm not sure, Sam. I just found it out the front.' Frodo said quietly. Sam put his hands on Frodo's shoulders, though he barely touched his left one. Ever since Frodo had been stabbed with the Morgul Blade, Sam had been extra careful and would touch it as little as possible, though Frodo had told him that he could touch it as much as he could any other part of his body.

Frodo lifted the label and read it aloud: _"To Dear Mr. Frodo Baggins. Thank you for writing out your tale when I asked you to. I know, indefinitely, how much it took a toll on you, but I thank you immensely. I asked you to write it out because I felt that all inhabitance of Middle Earth should know about yours and Sam's legendary tale. I had requests from many authors and story writers asking if they could copy what you had written to help the world know. As I speak, many people are furiously copying your tale for publication. A few copies have already been sold, but I kept this copy aside just for you, as it was the first to be copied. So here it is, Frodo Baggins, your tale in whole. Enjoy._

_Kindest regards, King Elessar of Gondor."_

'There you go, Sam,' Frodo said as he handed Sam the piece of writing that Aragorn had written. Frodo opened the book carefully as he would have if he were reading over the Red Book and turned to the very first page and began to read to himself.

"_Here follows the account of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee's legendary tale that took place during The War of the Ring." _ The book then went on and gave a small but detailed description of what an average Hobbit looked like, for those who didn't know about them, and then the story began as soon as Frodo had received the Ring. Frodo gave the book to Sam who had a tear in his eye.

'This is wonderful, Mr. Frodo, why ever didn't you tell me our story was to be published?'

'I didn't know, Sam.' Frodo said softly. 'Aragorn only asked me to write it. He never told me why. I just assumed that it was to be on display somewhere in Gondor. I never, ever dreamed that it would be published. But, here it is, Sam, in black and white and our tale will be forever told until long after we have departed.'

'I will get a copy and read it to my children; because, if it weren't for us, they would be alive, so to speak, Mr. Frodo.'

'That is true, Sam. The world would no longer exist if we had not destroyed that Thing. It and Sauron would have taken this world until there was nothing left and they would have moved onto some other place and destroyed that until there was nothing left and they too, would perish. Until the world no longer existed. He would have killed us all and destroyed the Earth and there would be nothing left. The entire world's inhabitance would have gone to waste; the historic timelines gone. Nothing would exist any longer. The world would have been a waste.'

'I know, Mr. Frodo. As we got closer and closer I was constantly wondering if we would fail our mission and if we did, what would happen to everyone we loved. They would have perished and it would have been my fault because I could no longer drive you and make sure that the Ring didn't take you. But when you did, Mr. Frodo, when you claimed the Ring for yourself, my heart broke. You were an entirely different person. I had no idea who you were.'

'I know, Sam. I know. The way I felt when I took the Ring, was as if it were someone else in my clothes, my looks, had my voice, my body, and I was looking down at them from above. I knew what it was that I was doing and I had no idea why, but I just could not stop myself. My whole mind had been taken up with this inanimate object for no reason but to live with it like it was my love. I would have taken it, left you there, and the both of us would have been killed. Whether by Sauron, an orc, or even Gollum, we both would have died and we would have damned our friends to a life of torture, pain, sweat, blood and tears. They would have been killed, Sam, and it would have been my fault. Not yours, but mine, all because of this little gold band.' As Frodo spoke, he began to tremble. He was talking of memories and possibilities that would have happened had he taken the Ring. Things that he had never thought of since Its destruction. He was moving on with his life; away from the trauma that the Ring caused him. He vowed never to read the book that Aragorn had sent him, for fear of bring up memories that were better left forgotten. He would be backtracking into a world from where he couldn't move on from his hurt and pain. It would make his life a living hell and he would wish that he had died so that he wouldn't have to relive his pain and suffering constantly.

Frodo Baggins would cease to exist and in his place would be a shadow soul that sat in the dark and rarely came out.

'Well, Sam, our story is told and I doubt that it will ever be forgotten. We saved this earth and people who do not appreciate do not care about their life.' Frodo said.


End file.
